Parental leave by country / Belgium
Maternity, paternity and parental leave in Belgium
How long each parent can be away, who pays and how much, the notice rules and the job protection — in plain English, whether you run a team in Belgium or work on one.
Belgian maternity leave is 15 weeks: up to six before the birth, of which one is compulsory, and nine compulsory weeks after it, paid by the health insurance fund at 82% of uncapped salary for the first 30 days and 75% of capped salary thereafter. Fathers and co-parents get 20 days of birth leave — the first three at full pay from the employer, the other 17 at 82% from the mutualité — within four months of the birth. Each parent may take four months of parental leave, full-time or in part-time equivalents, until the child is twelve, with a flat allowance from ONEM.
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How it works
The Loi sur le travail sets prenatal leave of six weeks (eight for multiples), one of which must be taken, and postnatal leave of nine compulsory weeks; untaken prenatal weeks are added after the birth. The mutualité pays 82% of gross salary without a ceiling for the first 30 days and 75% of capped salary afterwards; the employer pays nothing unless a collective agreement says otherwise. Congé de naissance for the father or co-parent has been 20 days since 2023, taken within four months of the birth, with the first three days paid by the employer at 100% and the rest by the mutualité at 82% of capped salary. Congé parental gives each parent, after a year's service, four months full-time, eight months half-time, twenty months at one-fifth or forty months at one-tenth, until the child's twelfth birthday, with a flat monthly allowance from ONEM; it sits alongside the broader time-credit system.
Worth knowing: Belgian maternity pay is uncapped for the first 30 days — one of the few systems where high earners receive 82% of actual salary at the start.
If you run a team in Belgium
You do not pay maternity benefits, but you must keep the job open, avoid dismissal from notification of the pregnancy until a month after the leave, and pay the first three days of birth leave. Parental leave requests need two to three months' notice and can be postponed once, for up to six months, for business reasons. Annual leave entitlement accrues during maternity and birth leave and during parental leave taken as full-time.
If you work in Belgium
Give your employer a medical certificate with the due date at least seven weeks in advance and inform your mutualité. Take at least one week before the birth and nine after. For birth leave, notify your employer as soon as possible; for parental leave, apply to your employer in writing two to three months ahead and to ONEM for the allowance.
Parental leave and annual leave
Maternity, birth and full-time parental leave count as assimilated days for the following year's holiday entitlement, up to the statutory limits; holiday that cannot be taken because of maternity leave is postponed.
The annual leave entitlement itself is covered on our Belgium annual leave page — 20 working days minimum.
Keeping the record straight
Long leaves are where leave records go wrong quietly: holiday that kept accruing for months and was never credited, a return date nobody diarised, a reduced entitlement applied where the law forbids it. In Belgium the rules above decide what is owed on return, and the record has to show it. A tracker like Leavo keeps the leave, the accrual and the approvals in one place so the return is a date, not a dispute. We compare the options in our leave management software guide, and the policy side — carryover, payout, accrual — in our guides.
Parental leave in Belgium: common questions
Can the mother convert some maternity leave into days off later?
Yes. If she takes at least two of the optional prenatal weeks after the birth, the last two weeks of postnatal leave can be converted into individual days taken within eight weeks of resuming work.
Who pays the 20 days of birth leave?
The employer pays the first three days at full salary; the mutualité pays the remaining 17 at 82% of capped gross salary.
Is parental leave paid?
Not by the employer. ONEM pays a flat monthly interruption allowance whose amount depends on whether the leave is full-time, half-time, one-fifth or one-tenth.
Does annual leave accrue during maternity or parental leave in Belgium?
Maternity, birth and full-time parental leave count as assimilated days for the following year's holiday entitlement, up to the statutory limits; holiday that cannot be taken because of maternity leave is postponed.
Source
Primary source: Loi du 16 mars 1971 sur le travail (congé de maternité); Loi du 3 juillet 1978 (congé de naissance); AR du 29 octobre 1997 (congé parental). Benefit rates and ceilings change every year and collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory scheme — confirm against the current text before acting. See our methodology.